Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 If 2005 was the year in the history of the sport that MMA broke into the mainstream then 2006 will be the toughtest test it's faced yet- endurance. Will it stay as popular as it currently is? How big will it get? What will change? What will need to change? That is, in the long and short of it, the purpose of this thread. What fights are you looking forward to? Shows? Fighters coming back? Fighters retiring? This year has the potential to be the best yet for MMA and it's fans around the world, which considering the year we just had is saying a lot. Just to spark some chattin', here's a list of some fights we could possibly be seeing on the horizon: David Loiseau vs Rich Franklin- UFC MW Division Georges St. Pierre vs Matt Hughes- UFC WW Division Matt Hughes vs BJ Penn- UFC WW Division Diego Sanchez vs Matt Hughes- UFC WW Division Chuck Liddell vs Renato "Babalu" Sobral- UFC LH Division Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs Ricardo Arona- PRIDE MW Division Joachim Hansen vs Takanori Gomi- PRIDE LW Division Fedor Emelianenko vs Mark Hunt- PRIDE HW Division Mirko Cro Cop vs Sergei Khanitorov- PRIDE HW Division Hopefully this thread can last the full year with things being brought up as they come. Happy debating! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted December 12, 2005 Denis Kang might get a push in Bushido's 185lbs division. It's probably the weakest of PRIDEs divisions at this point (even PRIDE's HW division has the Big 3, then Kharitonov, AE, Werdum, Hunt), so him vs. Bustamante or Hendo could probably come in mid-late 2006. He looked great in both of his PRIDE fights, and has that whole Asian thing going on for him. I wouldn't be surprised, if Baroni is still with them, to see Baroni vs. Bustamante. It's the UFC fight we never got to see. I dunno why, but I can see them putting that fight together. If BUSHIDO keeps pace with taking in SHOOTO stars, adding Shaolin to the division opens up a series of new matches. Plus you have potential fights like Gomi vs. Edwards, Gomi vs. Hansen as mentioned, maybe Sakurai vs. Edwards, or Sakurai vs. Kawajiri. Maybe a Edwards/Hansen rematch. Lots of fun in 2006 there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lei Tong 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2005 One of the most bittersweet things will be UFC's WW division. It's arguably the most stacked division in any organization in MMA, but with 3 Top 5 PFP level fighters (Hughes, Penn & St. Pierre) battling it out for supremecy, the rest of the talented guys flooding the division will most likely have to be content to duke it out for 4th place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Brian Report post Posted December 13, 2005 (edited) I'm hoping all the babble about resurrecting the lightweights comes through, because that could do a lot to clear up some of the guys that are in that division. Supposedly Koscheck can cut (don't know about this, as he spent his whole wrestling career at 170), plus Diaz can drop, and Sherk supposedly says he would (not so sure about that). Those guys all are or either have the potential to be A level fighters, but they're caught up in a division with three A+ level fighters. Add on top of that TUF guys like Florian, Gurgel, and Stevenson, plus whomever they can bring in. Edited December 13, 2005 by Brian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Your Paragon of Virtue 0 Report post Posted December 13, 2005 Edwards and Thompson and Franca and Pulver as well. Sherk walks around at 175, I think he can easily do it if he just stops lifting so many weights. If Arlovski leaves UFC like many think he might, they might as well just scrap that division and bring back the LW, I mean there's room for both, but scrapping the UFC's HW division is always a good idea. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
